Yakiniku

Cooking your own food in a restaurant is a real thing here.  At okonomiyaki restaurants there is a griddle in the middle of the table where someone comes and cooks the food for you.  Once it is cooked, the griddle keeps the food piping hot for the duration of the meal.  However, at other restaurants, you do the cooking yourself. 

On Sunday evening, my family decided to eat at a yakiniku restaurant.  Yakiniku is a carnivore's dream dinner.  Various types of raw meat are brought to the table and you get to cook it in a grill or barbeque to whatever doneness you desire. 

I've heard some people argue "why would I go to a restaurant if I still have to cook my food?"  I guarantee you, there are plenty of reasons to go! 

• Part of the fun is cooking the food because it is like a mini barbeque.  There is something so interesting grilling your own food.
• Different restaurants feature different types of grills.  I prefer the ones that use traditional charcoal.  Many yakiniku restaurants use gas grills these days, which I understand because it is easier, but I still prefer the charcoal. 
• There are many types of meat and vegetables to choose from.  You order exactly what you want (or a set of preselected types of meat).  My family loves thinly sliced cow tongue that we top with sliced nira (green onions) and lemon juice after it has been grilled.

Yakiniku is Japan's version of Korean Barbeque.  While the Korean version has various types of kimchee and other side dishes accompanying the grilled meat, the Japanese version tends to focus on the grill.  We often select meat (either beef or pork, depending on the restaurant as most specialize in one or the other), seafood (shrimp, squid), and vegetables (mushrooms, onions, peppers, corn).

When your plates of meat come, they are often delivered with lettuce.  You use this lettuce to wrap your cooked meat in like a little taco.  I like to add a bit of miso paste in there as well for extra flavor.

The one thing that you need to make sure to bring to yakiniku is your appetite!  It is one filling meal!  No matter how much you say you aren't going to stuff yourself silly, you always end up doing so.